Saint Joseph Catholic Church

“Be assured of our spiritual closeness with the bishops and faithful of your country as well as our prayers for the many communities mourning the death of military personnel and civilians, and caring for those wounded by these acts of violence,” Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, the Maronite bishop of Los Angeles, wrote in a May 19 letter to Bishop Hassa Florent Koné of San, the president of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Mali.

The West African nation of 22.6 million (map) is 87.5% Muslim and 3.5% Christian, with 9% adhering to ethnic religions. The Mali War began in 2012; it pits Mali’s government against various Islamist groups.

Pope Leo XIV today called upon the lay leaders of international associations of the faithful, ecclesial movements, and new communities to work to foster communion as they govern.

As part of the implementation phase of the 2021-2024 synod on synodality, there will be diocesan assemblies in the first half of 2027, assemblies of episcopal conferences in the latter half of 2027, continental assemblies in the first four months of 2028, and an ecclesial assembly at the Vatican in October 2028. The respective themes of these four stages are recollecting, interpreting, orienting, and celebrating.

The overarching question throughout the process is “In light of the journey undertaken after the conclusion of the 2021-2024 Synod, and with a view to offering its fruits as a gift to the other Churches and to the Holy Father: what concrete form of a missionary synodal Church and what new paths of synodality are emerging in your community?”

The Italian Episcopal Conference released revised investment guidelines on May 19.

A police detective “stressed that the vandalism did not turn out to be a hate crime, but more of a random act committed by a woman who will now receive mental health services,” Greater Long Island Media Group reported.

Pope Leo XIV today received new ambassadors to the Holy See from eight nations and encouraged them to seek the common good.

The Vatican newspaper lamented what it characterized as the “veil of silence” over Gaza.

The prelates discussed online ministry, migration, and how to make the FCBCO more synodal and collegial. They also discussed modern-day slavery, particularly the “slavery risks faced by temporary migrant workers in rural and regional New South Wales,” according to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

A year after the capture of Bukavu--a city of 1.1 million in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—by the Rwanda-backed M23 movement, the archdiocesan vicar general described the plight of the Church there.

Unknown attackers fired on a German parish on May 17 while Sunday Mass was in session, the German Catholic news agency KNA reported.